Auto delivery-truck.



1. F. LAYTHAM & D. A. ARNOLD.

AUTO DELIVERY TRUCK.

APPLICATION HLED APR. 27. 1916.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY rrnn srarns WE JAMES F. LAYTHAM, OF MONROE, AND DOUGLAS A. ARNOLD, NORTH YAKIMA, WASHINGTON.

AUTO DELIVERY-TRUCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

To all whom it may cmwem:

Be it known that we, JAMES F. LAYTI-IAM,

' of Monroe, Snohomish county, WVashington,

and DOUGLAS A. ARNOLD, of North Yakima, Yakima county, Washington, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Auto Delivery- Trucks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to auto delivery cars; and its object is to provide a body for such a vehicle which will accommodate a relatively large amount of goods and having gates in its sides to afford ready access to such goods and which upon being opened will serve for shelves upon which the articles may be displayed or transported.

With these ends in view the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of an auto delivery car embodying our invention; and Fig. 2 is a transverse section through 2-2 of Fig. 1.

According to the present invention, the car body is constructed with framework 5 from each side of which extend posts 6, 7 and 8 supporting the roof 9. Between posts 7 and 8 at each side of said framework and rigid therewith is a base board 10 and at the rear is a back board, indicated by broken lines 11. At a distance above each of the base-boards 10 is a transom board 12 fixedly secured at its ends to the respective posts 7 and 8. The transom board is further secured to a ledge-piece 13 which is itself secured to posts 7 and 8 and likewise to a forward post 6.

The ledge-piece at each side of the body is disposed to extend below the lower edge of the associated transom board, as denoted by 14:, to afford a gate stop.

A gate stop in the nature of a baton 15 is secured to and extends below the cave-board 16 at each side of the body.

The space between the posts 6 and 7 at opposite sides of the drivers seat 17 is closed by a wall 18 having a glass upper panel 19. 20 represents a tail gate connected by hinges as 21, to the back board 11.

Gates 22 and 23 are provided for the spaces above the base and transom boards 10 and 12 and are connected to the respective boards by hinges 24 which are desirably provided with springs tending to close the various gates. Connecting the ends of each of said gates with the adjacent posts are foldable devices for supporting the respective gates in their open positions. These devices comprise links 25 and 26 hingedly connected with each other by pivotal pins 27 and to attachments 28 and 29 of the gates and posts by pivotal pins 30 and 31.

The links 25 are provided with laterally directed ears 32 engageable with the links 26 to maintain the complementary links of each supporting device out of alinement when the respective gate is opened to the fullest extent, and also enabling the respective pairs of links to be foldable in the closing of a gate.

A floor 33 is provided upon the bed frame and another floor 34 is provided to be removably supported upon the ledge-pieces 13. The upper floor 3A is advantageously constructed with slats, as 35, and may, upon occasion, be used as a bunk upon which a couple of persons may lie. When thus employed, a board, not shown, may be temporarily supported on the ledge-pieces 13 in advance of the floor 34 and above the seat 17 to serve as an extension to such floor.

The tail gate 20 and the side gates 22 and 23 are opened or closed, as may be preferred or required. When opened, goods can be transported thereon, giving a greater capacity to the car than alforded by the floors and also enabling articles, such as lumber or pipes, which are longer than the car-body, to be conveniently carried.

Furthermore, the openings at the sides give better access to the different parts of the interior of the body than is obtainable from the rear, and the goods can be displayed on the opened doors in an attractive manner.

What we claim, is-

In a vehicle-body, the combination with framework consisting of a bed member, posts, a roof supported thereby, a baseboard and a transom-board secured to the posts at opposite sides of the body, and two superposed floors, the upper of said floors to the respective base and transom-boards, being removably supported between said and link-devices connecting the gates with transom boards and the lower floor! being the adjacent posts to support the outer ends 10 fixedly secured between said base boards, of of the gates when in their open positions.

5 a e s n edly onnected Qm its.

lower edge to the rear of the body, side gates JAMES F. LAYTH'AM; hingedly connected from their lower edges DOUGLAS A. ARNOLD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents eaeh, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents wefilzinswe W 

